Compliance & Regulation

The Ministry of Justice is taking forward work on whether interest on lawyers’ client accounts could be diverted to fund legal services for people unable to afford advice.

An experienced solicitor has been jailed for his part in helping to run two bogus investment schemes – one involving litigation funding – that conned over 150 victims out of £6m.

A law firm that failed to identify that the beneficial owner of its client was a politically exposed person (PEP) has been fined £173,000 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Complaints about contentious social media posts by barristers have fuelled a jump of a third in reports to the Bar Standards Board, cases described as “inherently complex”.

A High Court ruling casting uncertainty over the immunity of advocates for what they say and do in court could have a “chilling effect”, the Bar Council has warned.

A barrister disbarred for supervising an immigration firm whose registration had been cancelled by the Immigration Advice Agency has failed in his appeal against the decision.

The government has outlined how it will improve the anti-money laundering regime by publishing a slew of planned changes to the underlying regulations.

The profession has failed to make “significant progress in tackling the structural and cultural barriers to encouraging equality and diversity”, the LSB has declared.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to demand assurances from firms conducting volume consumer claims that they are meeting their professional obligations.

The emergence of third-party managed accounts “may, in time, reduce” the risk of law firms’ client accounts being used by criminals for money laundering, the government said yesterday.

The Bar Standards Board has rejected a complaint against high-profile KC Jolyon Maugham over his criticism of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the For Women Scotland case.

The chief operating officer of a law firm found to have used her company credit card for £300,000 of personal expenses has been disqualified from working in the profession.

The chief executives of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board yesterday recommended MPs adopt a principles-based approach to regulating outside interests.

The cost of practising as a solicitor is set to increase by 11%, or £16.6m, in the next year, although the financial impact will be felt by firms rather than individuals.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has fined an East London law firm £58,000 for anti-money laundering rule breaches over a six-year period.